New details emerge after second defendant pleads guilty in Alan Moran bribery case
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Second co-defendant Jeremy Billings pleaded guilty to bribery; trial for Morans pending.
- Prosecutors recommend 15-year term with three years to serve and supervision.
- Evidence from Lowe’s video, phone forensics and bank records tied suspects.
A second co-defendant of former Diamondhead councilman, and convicted sex offender, Alan Moran, pleaded guilty to bribery Tuesday in a scheme the former elected official and his father allegedly concocted to pay off the younger Moran’s victim in a stalking case.
Jeremy Cole Billings entered the plea before Judge Christopher Schmidt in Harrison County Circuit Court in Gulfport. He is now the second defendant to plead guilty in the case. Ian Schexnayder, of Pearlington, pleaded guilty to the same offense in December and is awaiting sentencing.
Both are set for sentencing in late February.
A Hancock County grand jury indicted the two along with Moran and his father, former state Sen. Philip Moran, on felony bribery and conspiracy charges. The Morans are still awaiting trial.
As part of his plea, Billings admitted he had been recruited by Alan Moran to offer the cash to the former elected official’s stalking victim.
In exchange for the plea, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Burrell said the state is recommending a sentence of 15 years, with 12 years suspended and three years to serve followed by four years of post-release supervision plus fines and court costs.
Billings, however, must testify truthfully when Moran and his father go to trial later this year.
The bribe and money for a truck
In further testimony Tuesday, Billings said Alan Moran asked him to come to the family business in the Kiln, where he asked Billings to carry out the bribe and gave him the cash to offer the teen victim.
At the time he was asked to commit the crime, he said Alan Moran’s father, Philip Moran, was there and heard what was being said. In exchange for him carrying out the crime, he said Alan Moran offered to pay off a truck note.
After he got the cash, Billings and Schexnayder, a friend Billings asked to participate in the scheme, rode motorcycles to Lowe’s in Waveland and offered Moran’s stalking victim $20,000 to drop the misdemeanor stalking charge against Moran. The victim refused the offer and reported it to Waveland police, ultimately resulting in the bribery charges. Alan Moran has since been convicted in the misdemeanor stalking case.
In addition, Billings said the younger Moran called a couple of times after the failed attempt to bribe the stalking victim, but was taken into custody for bribery a short time later.
The younger Moran, he said, never paid off the truck note for Billings.
After Alan Moran was taken into custody, he said Philip Moran called him about the cash that his son had provided for the bribe, but referred to the money on the call as “tools.”
During a call, Philip Moran told him to bring the money back to the office. Billings said he dropped off the cash he was supposed to use for the bribe at the Moran’s family business. He said he left the cash on Philip Moran’s desk, but said the former state senator later indicated that all the cash wasn’t there.
Bank records and Internet searches
According to Burrell and Harrison County Assistant District Attorney, Chris Daniel, the bribery investigation began in December 2024 after the stalking victim reported to Waveland police that two men on motorcycles approached him in the Lowe’s parking lot to offer him the $20,000 bribe to drop the stalking charge against Moran.
Waveland police later obtained surveillance video from Lowe’s showing the encounter and subsequently interviewed the witnesses seen in the footage.
After a review of the footage and other evidence, witnesses helped identify Schexnayder and Jeremy Cole Billings as the men on motorcycles who made the bribery offer.
Investigators also learned through official records checks and bank transactions and other evidence that Billings had ties to Moran and his family.
When Schexnayder was arrested, investigators forensically extracted data from his cellphone. On the device, the prosecutor said authorities found a photograph of the cash allegedly offered.
During the forensic search of the phone, prosecutors said they also found that Schexnayder had performed an internet search about whether a cash offer in a criminal case is a crime.
The crimes occurred on Dec. 13, 2024.
Alan Moran is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for violating his probation on a previous child exploitation conviction. A judge revoked the former councilman’s probation on the felony offense as a result of the stalking and bribery offense.
This story was originally published January 13, 2026 at 11:41 AM.
